ECB wants to test AI-powered digital euro payments
The European Central Bank has opened a new program to explore whether AI agents could use a future digital euro for payments, including micropayments and interactions between machines. SummaryECB will test AI-enabled digital euro payments and machine interactions through workshops beginning in 2027.Experimentation participants will build prototypes for e-receipts, conditional payments, multiparty transactions, and new app features.Applications for the innovation platform close November 9, with selected work beginning during early 2027.Thirty-six payment providers will join a separate twelve-month digital euro pilot starting during 2027 operations.Any digital euro launch still depends on EU legislation and a later ECB issuance decision. The ECB said on Sept. 28 that companies, payment firms, fintechs, merchants, public institutions and researchers can apply to join the next stage of its digital euro innovation platform, with work beginning in 2027. The project will examine AI-enabled payment experiences, AI agents interacting with each other, micropayments and new features inside payment apps. Participants will be expected to consider privacy, user control and data protection when developing ideas. You might also like: ECB seeks MiCA reserve change flagged by Tether in 2024 Applications remain open until Nov. 9 at 17:00 CET. The ECB has separated the work into two programs, one focused on building working payment









